Photo: Northern Pix - https://www.flickr.com/people/northernpix/ · CC BY 2.0Kugaaruk sees more crime per resident than 85% of Canadian towns
Of the two halves, violence comes to 95.2 and other offences to 128.7, beside norms of 86.4 and 62.8. Counting crime the police covering Kugaaruk reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety. Behind the grade sit 25.3 violent incidents and 119.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 12.0 and 31.2 in the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Crime severity, crime rate and incident counts: one figure for all of the Kugaaruk detachment area.
What stands out about safety in Kugaaruk
Mischief: high for a town its size
Kugaaruk records 111.2 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. By type ↓
Heavier on property and other crime
Set beside the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, Kugaaruk’s two halves part ways: 95.2 for violence (typical 86.4) and 128.7 for the rest (typical 62.8). By type ↓
A low clearance rate
Police cleared 24% of Kugaaruk’s crime, weighted by seriousness (48% of violent crime, 17% of the rest), against 34% across Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more. Questions ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Kugaaruk’s grade
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Kugaaruk’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Kugaaruk runs highest on mischief (111.2 per 1,000 against 4.2) and assault (15.2 per 1,000 against 6.7).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 1 | 0.8 | — |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 0.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 0 | 0 | — |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 0 | 0 | — |
| Other violent violations | 0 | 0 | — |
| Breaking and entering | 4.3 | 3.5 | — |
| Possession of stolen property | 0 | 0 | — |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 0.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft over $5,000 | 0.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Theft under $5,000 | 2 | 1.6 | — |
| Mischief | 137 | 111.2 | 8% |
| Weapons violations | 0.3 | 0.3 | — |
| Administration of justice violations | 3 | 2.5 | — |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 3.7 | 3 | — |
| Drug violations | 0 | 0 | — |
| Impaired driving | 3.7 | 3 | — |
| Failing to stop or remain | 0 | 0 | — |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
Around 31 violent incidents a year in the 1,250-resident police area around Kugaaruk, 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Add about 150 property crimes and 26 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Three years of Kugaaruk’s crime index
Crime Severity Index
The latest year was its heaviest: 2025, at 135.3, with 2023 the lightest at 89.1. The comparison line, the typical Canadian town of 2,500+, runs from 70.6 in 2023 to 62.9 by 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Kugaaruk | Typical town of 2,500+ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 135.3 | 62.9 |
| 2024 | 130.8 | 68.5 |
| 2023 | 89.1 | 70.6 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Kugaaruk, each year, against the typical Canadian town of 2,500+.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Read with care. The police behind these figures serve about 1,250 people, so a handful of incidents moves every rate. Statistics Canada’s note: “Data for police services or detachments with populations less than 5,000 should be used with caution.”
- Town and surroundings together. Detachment figures cover the detachment’s whole area: Kugaaruk together with the countryside and smaller places it polices.
- Reading the number. The index is scaled so that Canada as a whole scored 100 in its base year, 2006: a town at 50 has half that severity per resident.
- Solved cases. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- How serious, not how safe. Statistics Canada, which publishes the index, attaches a caution: “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.” The number weighs each reported crime by its seriousness before dividing by residents.
Questions about safety in Kugaaruk
Is Kugaaruk safe?
The short answer is an index of 118.4 for Kugaaruk (2023–2025), built from 25.3 violent incidents and 119.6 property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents. In the middle of Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more the figure is 67.2.
What is the most common crime in Kugaaruk?
Top of the list is mischief (111.2 per 1,000 residents a year); other Criminal Code offences, at 18.1, and assault, at 15.2, follow.
Is crime going up in Kugaaruk?
It went up 52% between 2023 and 2025, from 89.1 to 135.3. With few people or missing years behind it, the change is a rough one.
How much of Kugaaruk’s crime do police solve?
Weighted by seriousness, police cleared 24% of crime (48% of violent crime, 17% of the rest). The typical Canadian town of 2,500+ clears 34%.
Whose figures are these?
A police service or detachment that covers Kugaaruk and other places, so the figures are shared.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).